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IN  MEMORIAM 
BERNARD  MOSES 


fbhty^^-^M^-^'S'*-^ 


THE  CHURCH  AND 
OUR  GOVERNMENT 
IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 


A7i  Address  Delivered  before  the  Fac- 
ulty and  Students  of  the  Ihiiversity 
of  Notre  Dame,  October  5,  1904. 
From     the     Author's      Manuscript 


THE  HON.  WILLIAM  H.  TAFT, 

U.  S.  SECRETARY  OF  WAR 


NOTRE  DAME,  INDIANA 
THE     UNIVERSITY     PRESS 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  NOTRE   DAME, 

NOTRE   DAHE,  INDIANA. 


The  University  offers  its  students  every  facility  and  opjjor- 
tunity  for  a  complete 

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I  Technical  Courses 

Thd  graduates  in  the  Civil,  Mechanical,  and  Electrical 
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Architecture 
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Commercial  Ccurse 
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paratory School  and  the  tender  care  of  the  Sisters  during 
study  hours. 

The  Gymnasium 
with  a  track  hall  100x180  feet— a  Physical  Culture  room  40x100 
feet  modernly  equipped,  a  lo-acre  athletic  field,  spacious 
recreation  grounds,  two  lakes  for  aquatic  sports,  a  large 
indoor  swimming  pool  30x75,  leave  nothing  to  be  desired 
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over  17  who  are  admissable  to  the  Sophomore  year  of  any 
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Address:  VERY  REV.  ANDREW  MORRISSEY.  C.  S.C.LL.D., 

Kotre  Dame,  Indiana. 


The  Church  and  Our  Government 
in  the  Philippines 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

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http://www.archive.org/details/churchourgovernmOOtaftriGh 


The  Church  and  Our  Govern 
ment  in  the  Philippines 


An  Address  Delivered  Before  the  Faculty  and 
Students  of  the  University  of  Notre  Dame, 
Octobers,  1904.    From  the  Author's  Manuscript 


BY 


THE  HON.  WILLIAM   H.  TAFT 

U.  S.  SECRETARY  OF  WAR  ' 


NOTRE    DAME,  INDIANA 
THE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 


•  •  • 


•  •»  :  .  •  •' 


"> 


BERNARD  MCISES 


The  Church  and  Our  Government 
In  the  Philippines. 


SINCE  my  return  from  the  Philippine 
Islands,  it  has  been  my  privilege 
to  discuss  the  question  touching  Church 
and  State  arising  in  the  administration  of 
those  islands,  before  Presbyterian  and 
Episcopalian  bodies  and  before  the  General 
Chautauqua  Assembly.  This  is  the  first 
time  that  I  have  addressed  a  distinctly 
Catholic  audience  upon  the  subject.  I  am 
glad  to  do  so,  because,  naturally,  the  Roman 
Catholics  of  America  are  more  closely 
interested  than  any  other  denomination  in 
such  issues,  affecting,  as  they  do,  7,000,000 
of  people  in  the  archipelago,  a  large 
majority  of  w^hom  are  Roman  Catholics. 

Magellan,  in  search  of  spices,  was  the  first 
European  to  land  in  the  Philippine  Islands. 
He  lost  his  life  near  the  present  city  of  Cebu 
in  1521.  The  archipelago  was  not  really 
taken  possession  of  as  a  colony  of  Spain 
until  1565.  This  was  in  the  reign  of 
Philip  II.  The  colonization  of  the  Philip- 
pines had  its  motive  not  in  gain  but  in 
the  desire  to  extend  the  Christian  religion. 
The  islands  were  indeed  a  Christian  mission 


794151 


—  6  — 

rather  than  a  colony,  and  this  characteristic 
has  affected  their  histor}^  to  the  present 
day.  It  is  true  that  Legaspi,  the  former 
alcalde  of  the  city  of  Mexico,  who  was  sent 
out  with  Friar  Urdaneta,  of  the  Augustinian 
Order,  was  directed  to  examine  the  ports 
of  the  Philippine  Islands  and  to  establish 
trade  with  the  natives;  and  that  the 
importance  of  winning  the  friendship  of  the 
natives  was  emphasized  as  a  means  of 
continuing  the  trade.  But  the  viceroy  of 
Philip  II.  ordered  Legaspi  to  treat  the  five 
Augustinian  Friars  in  his  company  with 
the  utmost  respect  and  consideration,  so 
that  the  natives  should  also  hold  them  in 
respect;  ''since,"  as  he  wrote  to  Legaspi, 
"you  are  aware  that  the  chief  thing  sought 
after  by  his  Majesty  is  the  increase  of  the 
Holy  Catholic  Faith  and  the  salvation  of 
the  souls  of  these  infidels."  In  other  Spanish 
expeditions  the  sum  of  money  paid  for  the 
trip  was  paid  by  adventurers  who  con- 
tributed part  of  the  fund  and  who  w^ere 
aided  from  the  royal  treasury,  the  under- 
standing being  that  there  should  be  an 
equitable  division  of  the  profits  between 
the  adventurers  and  the  king.  There  v^as, 
however,  no  adventurer  connected  with  this 
expedition.  It  was  purely  a  governmental 
enterprise  sent  out  by  order  of  Philip  II., 
and    he  paid  all  the    expenses.      A  contem- 


—  7  — 

porary  writer  says  that  when  the  king  was 
informed  that  the  PhiHppines  were  not  rich 
in  gold  and  pearls  and  that  their  occupation 
might  not  be  lucrative  but  the  reverse, 
he  answered:  ''That  is  not  a  matter  ot 
moment;  I  am  an  instrument  of  Divine 
Providence.  The  main  thing  is  the  conver- 
sion of  the  kingdom  of  Luzon ;  and  God  has 
predestined  me  for  that  end,  having  chosen 
me  His  king  for  that  purpose.  And  since 
He  has  intrusted  so  glorious  a  w^ork  to 
me  and  my  crown,  I  shall  hold  the  islands 
of  Luzon,  even  though  by  doing  so  I  exhaust 
my  treasury." 

Again,  in  1619,  in  the  reign  of  Philip  IIL, 
it  was  proposed  to  abandon  the  Philippines 
on  the  ground  of  their  useless  expense  to 
Spain,  and  an  order  to  that  eifect  was 
given.  A  delegation  of  Spanish  friars  from 
the  archipelago,  however,  implored  the  king 
not  to  abandon  the  200,000  Christians 
whom  they  had  by  that  time  converted, 
and  the  order  was  countermanded. 

I  may  digress  here  to  say  that  some  years 
before  the  American  occupation,  a  popular 
subscription  was  taken  up  in  Manila  to  pay 
for  the  erection  of  the  statue  of  Legaspi, 
the  founder  of  the  city.  Subsequently  the 
plan  was  changed  so  as  to  include  Urdaneta, 
the  Augustinian  Friar,  who  accompanied 
Legaspi.    Querol,  a  Spanish  sculptor  of  note. 


8 


designed  the  monument,  and  it  was  cast  in 
bronze  and  sent  to  Manila.  When  the  Amer- 
ican forces  captured  the  place,  there  were 
found  in  the  Custom  House  the  various  pieces 
of  the  monument,  but  nothing  looking 
to  its  erection  had  been  done.  The  military 
government  of  Manila  under  General  Davis, 
decided,  and  properly  decided,  that  it  would 
be  a  graceful  act  on  the  part  of  the  American 
authorities  to  erect  the  monument.  This 
was  done,  and  the  monument  now  stands 
on  the  Luneta  overlooking  the  Bay  ot 
Manila,  and  occupies  the  most  prominent 
site  in  the  whole  archipelago.  It  is  a 
work  of  art.  The  two  figures  are  instinct 
with  courage  and  energy.  Legaspi  on  the 
right  bears  in  his  left  hand  the  standard  of 
Spain ;  on  the  left,  and  slightly  in  advance 
of  Legaspi,  Urdaneta  carries  in  his  right 
hand,  and  immediately  in  the  front  of  the 
Spanish  standard,  the  cross.  The  whole, 
as  an  artistic  expression,  satisfies  the 
sense  of  admiration  that  one  feels  in 
reading  of  the  enterprise,  courage  and 
fidelity  to  duty  that  distinguished  those 
heroes  of  Spain  who  braved  the  then 
frightful  dangers  of  the  deep  to  carry 
Christianity  and  European  civilization  into 
the  far-off  Orient. 

Under  the  circumstances  I  have  described, 
the    occupation    of  the  islands    took    on    a 


—  9—    • 

different  aspect  from  that  of  ordinary 
seeking  for  gold  and  profit,  and  was  not  in 
the  least  like  the  conquest  of  Pizarro  and 
Cortez.  The  natives  were  treated  with  great 
kindness  and  consideration.  The  priests 
exerted  every  effort  to  conciliate  them.  The 
government  was  first  established  at  Cebu, 
subsequently  at  Iloilo  in  Panay,  and  finally 
at  Manila  in  1571.  There  was  at  Manila 
some  fighting  of  a  desultory  and  not  very 
bloody  character;  but  Legaspi,  obeying 
the  direction  of  his  superior,  at  once  entered 
into  negotiations  with  the  natives.  He  found 
that  there  was  no  great  chief  in  command, 
but  that  each  town  had  its  own  chief  and 
there  was  no  other  government  than  that  of 
many  petty  rulers.  They  were  jealous  of  one 
another,  were  easily  induced  to  acknowledge 
allegiance  to  the  King  of  Spain,  and  were 
quickly  brought  under  the  influence  of  the 
active  missionary  efforts  of  the  friars  who 
accompanied  Legaspi.  History  affords  few 
instances  in  which  sovereignty  was  extended 
over  so  large  a  territory  and  so  many 
people  (for  the  island  must  then  have  had 
half  a  million  inhabitants)  with  less  blood- 
shed. When  Legaspi's  lieutenant,  Salcedo, 
first  visited  Manila,  he  found  evidence  that 
there  had  been  an  effort  to  convert  the 
people  to  Mohammedanism,  but  it  had  not 
proceeded  far.    Undoubtedly,  if  Legaspi  had 


lO 


not  at  that  time  come  into  the  islands,  all 
the  peoples  of  the  archipelago,  instead  of 
only  five  per  cent  of  them,  would  now, 
have  been  Mohammedan.  The  willingness  of 
the  natives  to  embrace  Christianity,  their 
gentle  natures  and  their  love  of  the  solemn 
and  beautiful  ceremonies  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  enabled  the  friars  to  spread  Christi- 
anity through  the  islands  with  remarkable 
rapidity. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  these  are 
a  Malay  people;  and  that  nowhere  in  the 
world,  except  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  has 
the  Malay  been  made  a  Christian.  In  other 
places  where  the  race  abides,  Mohamme- 
danism has  become  its  religion;  and  there 
is  no  condition  of  mind  which  offers  such 
resistance  to  the  inculcating  of  Christianity 
as  that  found  in  the  followers  of  the 
Prophet  of  Mecca. 

The  friars  learned  the  various  dialects  ot 
the  natives,  and  settled  down  to  live  with 
them  as  their  protectors  and  guardians.  In 
the  first  two  hundred  years  of  Spanish  occu- 
pation, the  Crown  had  granted  to  various 
Spanish  subjects  large  tracts  of  land  called 
encomiendas.  To  those  who  occupied  these 
encomiendas  it  was  intended  to  give  the 
character  of  feudal  lords.  They,  of  course 
came  into  contact  w^ith  the  natives  and 
attempted    to    use    them    for    the    develop- 


II 


ment  of  their  properties.  The  history 
of  the  islands  until  1800  shows  that  the 
friars  who  had  increased  in  number  from 
time  to  time  were  constantly  exercising 
their  influence  to  restrain  abuse  of  the 
natives  by  these  encomienderos,  or  large 
land-owners ;  and  the  result  of  their  efforts 
is  seen  in  the  royal  decrees  issued  at  their 
request,  which  were  published  and  became 
known  as  the  "Laws  of  the  Indies."  It  is 
very  probable  that  the  encomienderos  fre- 
quently violated  the  restrictions  w^hich  v^ere 
put  upon  them  by  these  laws  in  dealing  with 
the  natives;  but  there  is  nothing  to  show 
that  the  friars  winked  at  this  or  that  they 
did  not  continue  to  act  sincerely  as  the 
protectors  of  the  natives  down  to  the 
beginning  of  the  past  century.  Under  the 
law  a  native  could  not  be  sued  unless  there 
was  made  party  to  the  suit  an  official  who 
was  ordinarily  a  friar,  known  as  ''the 
Protector  of  the  Indian."  The  encomiendero 
who  had  to  do  with  the  natives  was 
not  permitted  to  live  in  a  town  on  his 
own  estates  where  the  natives  lived.  The 
friars  exerted  their  influence  to  induce  the 
natives  to  live  in  tow^ns  near  the  church 
and  the  convento,  or  parish  house,  because 
they  thought  that  this  would  bring  the 
natives  more  fully  ''under  the  the  bells," 
as     they     called     it,     or     within     religious 


12 


influence.  One  of  the  friars  laid  down  as 
a  rule,  which  was  adopted  by  his  Order 
and  approved  by  the  government  as  early 
as  1580,   the  following: 

1.  **It  is  proper  that  pueblos  should  be 
formed,  the  missionaries  being  ordered  to 
establish  themselves  at  a  certain  point  where 
the  church  and  the  parish  house  (convento), 
which  w^ill  serve  as  a  point  of  departure  for 
the  missions,  will  be  built.  The  new  Chris- 
tians will  be  obliged  to  build  their  houses 
about  the  church,  and  the  heathen  will 
be  advised  to  do  so. 

2.  **  Elementary  schools  should  be  estab- 
lished, in  which  the  Indians  will  be  taught 
not  only  Christian  doctrine  and  reading 
and  writing,  but  also  arts  and  trades;  so 
that  they  may  become  not  only  good 
Christians  but  also  useful  citizens." 

So  great  and  complete  became  the  control 
which  the  friars  exercised  over  the  natives 
by  reason  of  their  sincere  devotion  to  their 
interests,  that  Spain  found  it  possible  to 
police  the  islands  with  very  few  troops. 

The  Spanish  military  force  in  the  Philip- 
pines in  1600  was  470  oflficers  and  men. 
In  1636  this  had  increased  to  1762 
Spaniards  and  140  natives.  From  1828  to 
1896  the  Spanish  forces  varied  from  1000 
to  3000  officers  and  men.  In  1896,  just 
before    the    revolution,    the    army    included 


—  IS- 
IS,000  men,  of  whom  3000  were  Spaniards; 
and   a  constabulary   of  3500   men  most   of 
whom   were  natives. 

The  Spaniards,  but  not  the  natives,  v^ere 
until  1803  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Inquisition.  Idolatries,  heresies  and  errors 
of  belief  committed  by  the  natives  were 
brought  before  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  but 
not  before  the  Holy    Office. 

Although  the  natives  held  slaves,  upon  the 
arrival  of  the  Spaniards  the  custom  was 
discouraged  by  a  law  forbidding  Span- 
iards to  hold  slaves,  and  by  prohibiting 
judges  from  deciding  in  cases  of  dispute 
whether  a  man  was  a  slave ;  so  that  a  slave 
appearing  before  the  court  was  ordinarily 
liberated. 

In  Cavite  the  friars  maintained  a  hospital 
for  sick  sailors;  in  Manila,  Los  Banos  and 
Caceres  were  hospitals  for  sick  natives; 
in  Manila,  Pila  and  Caceres  were  hospitals 
for  Spaniards,  the  clergy  and  natives  who 
could  afford  to  pay.  In  Manila  was  main- 
tained a  hospital  for  sick  negro  slaves. 

Between  1591  and  1615,  the  friars  of  the 
Philippines  had  sent  missionaries  to  Japan, 
wrho  devoted  themselves  to  the  succor  of  the 
poor  and  needy  there,  and  especially  the 
lepers  of  that  country ;  so  that  there  were  in 
Japan,  when  the  ports  of  that  country  were 
closed,  about  thirty-two  priests.  Twenty-six 


—  14  — 

of  them  were  crucified  or  burned  alive.  When 
the  Mikado  expelled  the  Christians  he  sent  to 
the  governor-general  of  the  Philippines  three 
junks  laden  with  150  lepers,  v^ith  a  letter  in 
which  he  stated  that,  as  the  Spanish  friars 
v^ere  so  anxious  to  provide  for  the  poor  and 
afflicted,  he  sent  them  a  cargo  of  men  who 
were  really  sorely  oppressed.  These  unfort- 
unates v^ere  taken  ashore  and  housed  at 
Manila,  in  the  hospital  of  San  Lazaro,  which 
has  ever  since  been  used  for  lepers. 

I  draw  much  of  what  I  have  said  from  an 
introduction  by  Captain  John  R.  M.  Taylor, 
of  the  14th  Infantry,  Assistant  to  the  Chief 
of  the  Bureau  of  Insular  Affairs,  who  is 
engaged  in  compiling  original  documents 
connected  w^ith  the  Philippines,  with  notes. 
Speaking  of  what  the  friars  did  in  the 
islands,  Captain  Taylor  says : 

*'To  accomplish  these  results  required 
untiring  energy  and  a  high  enthusiasm 
among  the  missionaries,  in  whom  the  fierce 
fires  of  religious  ardor  must  have  consumed 
many  of  the  more  kindly  attributes  ol 
humanity.  Men  who  had  lived  among 
savages,  trying  to  teach  them  the  advan- 
tages of  peace  and  the  reasonableness  of  a 
higher  life,  who  had  lived  among  them 
speaking  their  tongues  until  they  had 
almost  forgotten  their  own,  must  have  felt 
when  promoted    to  the    high  places  in  the 


—  15  — 

religious  hierarchy,  that  their  sole  duty  was 
to  increase  the  boundaries  of  the  vineyard  in 
which  they  had  worked  so  long.  Spain  had 
ceased  to  be  everything  to  them :  their  Order 
was  their  country ;  and  the  cure  of  souls,  and 
the  accumulation  of  means  for  the  cure  of 
souls  was  the  truest  patriotism.  .  .  .  They 
were  shepherds  of  a  very  erring  flock. 
Spanish  officials  came  and  w^ent,  but  the 
ministers  of  the  Church  remained,  and  as 
they  grew  to  be  the  interpreters  of  the 
wants  of  the  people,  and  in  many  cases 
their  protectors  against  spoliation,  power 
fell  into  their  hands." 

The  influence  of  the  friars  was  thrown 
against  the  investigation  and  development 
of  the  resources  of  the  Philippines.  The 
priests  reasoned  that  the  working  of  the 
mines  in  Peru  and  Mexico  had  meant  suffer- 
ing and  death  to  many  of  the  natives ;  and 
that  it  was  better  to  let  the  mines  in  the 
Philippines,  if  mines  there  were,  lie  unopened. 
Few  Spanish  merchants  lived  permanently 
in  the  islands,  and  these  were  chiefly  engaged 
in  the  transshipment  of  Asiatic  merchandise 
from  Manila,  and  had  but  little  interest  in 
Philippine  products.  The  internal  develop- 
ment of  the  islands  was  neglected.  Taxes 
were  light,  and  there  was  little  money  to 
make  improvements  or  to  establish  schools. 
One    Spanish  -  speaking    priest    among  three 


i6 


or  four  thousand  natives  could  not  do  much 
in  spreading  the  knowledge  of  the  language. 
It  is  probable  that,  apart  from  the  con- 
venience of  the  priest's  learning  the  language 
of  his  parish  instead  of  requiring  the 
parishioners  to  learn  his,  it  w^as  deemed 
expedient  from  a  moral  standpoint  to  keep 
the  common  people  ignorant  of  Spanish. 
To  know^  Spanish  meant  contact  v^ith  the 
outside  w^orld,  and  the  priests  feared — not 
civilization,  but  the  evils  of  civilization. 
Modem  material  progress  seemed  to  the 
Spanish  missionaries  of  little  w^orth,  com- 
pared with  keeping  their  people  innocent. 

It  ought  to  be  noted,  however,  that  while 
the  policy  of  the  friars  seems  to  have  been 
to  keep  the  common  people  in  a  state  of 
Christian  pupilage,  they  founded  a  university, 
that  of  St.  Thomas,  which  is  older  than 
either  Harvard  or  Yale,  and  is  still  doing 
educational  work.  The  Jesuits,  too,  founded 
and  are  now  carrying  on  several  very  good 
academic  schools  in  Manila,  and  there  are  a 
few  others  in  the  islands.  All  the  well- 
educated  Filipinos  owe  their  education  to 
institutions  of  learning  founded  by  friars  or 
Jesuits,  or   conducted  under  their  auspices. 

This  brief  description  of  the  control  of 
the  Philippine  Islands  and  of  the  Philippine 
people  by  a  thousand  Spanish  friars  prior 
to  the  nineteenth  century,  at  once  prompts 


—  17  — 

the  question  how  it  has  come  about  that  the 
PhiHppine  people  now  manifest  such  hos- 
tihty  to  those  who  were  for  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years  their  sincere  and  earnest 
friends,  benefactors  and  protectors?  There 
were  several  causes  for  the  change.  The 
intimate  and  affectionate  relations  existing 
between  the  friars  and  their  native  parish- 
ioners had  led  to  the  education  of  natives 
as  priests,  and  to  the  acceptance  of  some 
of  them  as  members  of  the  religious  orders. 
Before  1800,  of  the  bishops  and  archbishops 
who  had  been  appointed  in  the  islands, 
twelve  were  natives;  but  after  the  first 
years  of  the  nineteenth  century  no  such 
places  of  preferment  were  offered  them ;  and 
after  1832  they  were  not  allowed  to  become 
members  of  the  religious  orders.  This 
change  of  policy  created  a  cleavage  between 
the  native  clergy  and  the  friars,  which 
gradually  widened.  In  all  countries  in 
which  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  has 
become  fairly  established,  it  has  been  the 
ultimate  policy  of  Rome  to  make  the  Church 
as  popular  as  possible  by  appointing  the 
priests  and  the  hierarchy  from  the  natives 
of  the  country;  but  in  the  Philippines,  and 
especially  in  the  nineteenth  century,  under 
the  Spanish  influence — which,  by  means  ot 
the  Concordat  between  the  Spanish  Crown 
and     Rome,     largely    excluded    the     direct 


—  i8  — 

interposition  of  Rome  in  the  Philippines — 
a  different  pohcy  was  followed,  and  the 
controlling  priesthood  was  confined  as  rnuch 
as  possible  to  the  dominant  and  alien  race. 
The  inevitable  result  of  this  policy,  as 
soon  as  any  small  percentage  of  the 
Philippine  people  passed  out  from  under 
the  pupilage  of  the  Spanish  friars,  was  to 
create  an  opposition  to  them  among  the 
people. 

In  1767,  the  Jesuits  had  been  banished 
from  the  islands  by  the  Pragmatic  Sanc- 
tion of  Charles  the  Third,  and  their 
properties  had  been  confiscated.  They  were 
at  the  time  very  powerful  and  rich,  and 
the  thirty -two  parishes  to  which  they 
had  administered  were  now  given  over, 
through  the  influence  of  a  secular  arch- 
bishop, to  native  priests.  The  parishes 
were  chiefly  in  the  provinces  of  Cavite, 
Manila  and  Bulacan.  In  1852,  the  Jesuits 
were  permitted  to  return,  and  the  order 
permitting  their  return  directed  that  they 
should  receive  again  their  thirty-two 
parishes,  but  in  the  remote  Island  of 
Mindanao.  Those  parishes  had  been  occu- 
pied by  Recolletos,  the  barefooted  branch 
of  the  Franciscan  Order.  The  Recolletos 
demanded  that  if  they  were  turned  out  of 
their  parishes  in  Mindanao,  they  should 
be    restored    to    the    parishes    occupied    by 


—  19  — 

the  native  secular  clergy  in  Cavite,  Manila 
and  Bulacan,  which  had  been  originally 
Jesuit  parishes.  This  proposal  was  resisted 
by  the  native  secular  clergy,  but  was, 
nevertheless,  carried  into  effect,  increasing 
the  hostility  already  existing  on  the  part 
of  the  native  clergy  toward  the  friars. 
The  bitterness  of  feeling  thus  engendered 
spread  among  the  people. 

Secondly,  the  friars  had  become,  generally 
by  purchase,  large  landowners.  They  held 
land  enough  to  nlake  up  250,000  acres  in 
the  Tagalog  provinces  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  Manila.  This  land,  which 
was  rented  by  them  to  thousands  of  tenants, 
was  the  best  cultivated  land  in  the  islands, 
and  was  admirably  suited  for  the  cheap 
conveyance  of  the  crops  to  market.  Charges 
were  made  that  the  friars  were  collecting 
exorbitant  rents;  and  other  agrarian  diffi- 
culties arose,  which,  however  free  from 
blame  the  friars  may  have  been,  contributed 
very  decidedly  to  the  growing  feeling  on 
the  part  of  the  native  people  against  their 
former  friends  and  protectors. 

Finally,  the  construction  of  the  Suez  Canal 
brought  the  Philippines  into  comparatively 
close  communication  w^ith  Spain,  and  hordes 
of  Spanish  adventurers  came  to  the  islands. 
Republican  or  liberal  political  views  which 
were  then  spreading  in  Spain,  leading  later  to 


—  20  — 

the  formation  for  a  short  time  of  a  Spanish 
republic,  reached  Manila,  and,  finding 
lodgment  among  some  of  the  educated 
Filipinos  led  to  a  small  uprising  and 
so-called  insurrection  in  1870.  A  prominent 
Filipino  priest  named  Burgos,  who  had  been 
active  in  the  controversies  between  the  friars 
and  the  native  clergy,  was  charged  with 
complicity  in  this  uprising,  was  convicted 
and  was  shot  on  the  Luneta.  The  Spanish 
government  looked  to  the  Spanish  friars, 
because  of  their  intimacy  v^ith  the  people 
and  control  over  them,  to  do  what  was 
necessary  in  ferreting  out  sedition  or 
treason,  supposed  to  be  then  rife.  By 
custom,  and  subsequently  by  law,  to  the 
parish  priest  was  given  complete  super- 
visory power  over  the  municipal  government 
of  his  town.  His  civil  functions  became 
very  many,  and  one  of  his  chief  duties 
was  supposed  by  the  people  to  be  to  report 
to  the  central  government  at  Manila  the 
persons  in  his  parish  whose  political  views 
or  actions  were  hostile  to  the  Spanish  regime. 
The  friars  thus  became  involved  in  a  reaction- 
ary policy,  which  placed  them  in  opposition 
to  the  people,  and  made  them  responsible 
in  the  popular  mind  for  the  severity  with 
which  the  Spanish  government  punished 
those  suspected  of  liberal  political  opinions. 
So  bitter  did  the  feeling  become  that  in  the 


21 


revolution  of  1898  there  were  forty  friars 
killed  and  three  hundred  imprisoned;  and 
the  latter  were  released  only  by  the 
advance  of  the  American  forces  and  the 
capture  of  the  towns  in  which  they  were 
confined. 

I  have  at  various  times  discussed  the 
dilemma  which  was  presented  to  the  United 
States  after  the  battle  of  Manila  Bay  and 
the  taking  of  the  city  of  Manila,  the  signing 
of  the  protocol,  and  when  the  question  arose 
as  to  what  form  the  treaty  of  peace  should 
take.  It  is  not  my  purpose  now^  to  review^ 
the  situation;  it  has  convinced  me  that 
the  course  which  was  taken — to  wit,  that 
of  assuming  sovereignty  over  the  islands — 
was  the  only  honorable  course  open  to 
the  United  States. 

The  condition  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  after  the  treaty  of  peace  between 
Spain  and  the  United  States  was  a  critical 
one;  and  while  it  has  somewhat  improved, 
there  still  remains  much  to  be  desired  before 
the  Church  can  assume  its  proper  sphere  of 
usefulness.  Many  of  the  churches  were  injured 
in  the  war  of  the  insurrection,  and  many  of 
the  parishes  had  to  be  abandoned  for  lack  of 
priests.  The  native  clergy,  consisting  mainly 
of  priests  of  limited  education  who  had  acted 
as  assistants  to  the  friars,  have  become 
the  parish   priests;    and    the    learning    and 


22   


character  of  many  of  them  are  by  no  means 
as  high  as  those  of  CathoHc  priests  of  other 
countries.  The  friars  who  were  parish  priests 
could  not  return  to  the  parishes  because  of 
the  enmity  felt  against  them;  and  it  was 
difficult  to  obtain  priests  from  other  lands 
who  could  discharge  the  duties  of  ministers 
of  religion  among  people  whom  they  did 
not  understand  and  who  did  not  understand 
them.  I  am  informed  that  arrangements  are 
now^  being  made  to  bring  in  French,  Bel- 
gian and  American  missionaries.  The  funds 
which  the  Spanish  government  was  under 
obligation  to  furnish  for  the  salaries  of  the 
parish  priests,  by  reason  of  the  Concordat 
with  the  Pope,  are  of  course  not  now 
available ;  and  this  makes  it  important,  from 
a  churchman's  standpoint,  that  as  much  of 
the  money  as  possible  realized  from  the 
friars'  lands  should  be  kept  in  the  coffers 
of  the  Philippine  Church.  The  truth  is 
that  the  Church  has  been  placed  under  the 
necessity  of  preparing  a  new  priesthood  and 
of  establishing  the  old  church  on  a  new 
foundation.  The  policy  of  the  Vatican  looks 
now  to  the  creation  as  soon  as  practicable 
of  a  new  clergy  by  the  education  of  young 
Filipinos  of  good  character  in  theological 
seminaries  to  be  established  for  the  purpose 
in  Manila,  Rome  and  America. 
The  transfer  of  a  people  from  a  sovereignty 


—  23  — 

like  that  of  Spain — in  which  the  Church  and 
government  and  the  State  were  so  closely 
united  that  it  is  at  times  very  difficult  to 
distinguish  .the  possessions  and  functions 
of  each — to  a  sovereingty  like  that  of  the 
United  States,  in  which  the  Church  and  the 
state  must  be  separate,  has  presented  a 
number  of  most  interesting  questions  for 
readjustment  and  settlement ;  and  these 
questions  have  been  much  complicated  by 
the  political  bearing  which  the  hostility  of 
the  people  toward  the  friars'  ownership  of 
large  argricultural  holdings  has  had  upon 
the  situation. 

Let  us  take  up,  in  order,  the  classes  of  ques- 
tions arising  between  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  and  the  government  of  the  Philippine 
Islands    established    by  the    United    States : 

First.  The  three  orders — the  Augustinians, 
the  RecoUetos  and  the  Dominicans — owned  ^ 
among  them  about  420,000  acres  of  land. 
Of  this,  120,000  acres  had  been  very  recently 
acquired  by  grant  of  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment, 60,000  acres  of  it  lay  in  the  remote 
province  of  Isabela  and  was  granted  to  the 
Augustinian  Order,  in  order  to  secure  its 
improvement;  and  a  similar  grant  in  the 
Island  of  Mindoro  was  made  to  the 
RecoUetos.  The  remaining  300,000  acres, 
however,  had  been  held  by  the  Orders  for 
periods  ranging   from    50    to  200  years.    I 


—  24  — 

do  not  find  any  indication  that  this  land  was 
acquired  through  undue  influence  as  has  been 
sometimes  charged.  The  chain  of  titles  seems 
to  show  that  it  was  all  purchased  either  at 
private  sale  or  public  auction.  The  lands, 
especially  those  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Manila,  the  friars  highly  improved  by 
irrigation  at  large  expense.  After  the 
Revolution  of  1896,  the  popular  feeling 
against  the  friars  made  the  collection  of 
rents  from  their  tenants  impossible. 

The  Insurgent  Congress  at  Malolos,  under 
Aguinaldo,  passed  acts  confiscating  to  the 
Filipino  Republic  all  the  lands  of  the  friars 
in  the  islands;  and  many  of  the  tenants 
based  their  refusal  to  pay  rents  to  the  friars' 
agents  on  the  ground  of  this  "nationalizing" 
of  the  lands,   as  it  was  called. 

In  1901,  American  civil  government  was 
established,  and  courts  were  created  for  the 
purpose  of  determing  civil  rights.  The  friars 
had  meantime  transferred  their  titles  to 
promoting  companies,  taking  back  shares 
in  the  corporations  as  a  consideration  for 
the  transfers.  With  the  restoration  of  tran- 
quillity in  1902,  there  was  no  just  reason 
why  the  companies  now  owning  the  lands 
should  not  proceed  to  collect  their  rents  and 
to  oust  the  tenants  if  the  rents  w^ere  not 
paid.  The  tenants  were  sullen  and  not 
disposed  to  recognize  the  titles  of  the  friars 


—  25  — 

or  to  pay  their  rents.  A  sytematic  attempt 
to  collect  the  rents  would  involve  eviction 
suits  against  many  thousand  tenants ; 
judgment  w^ould  doubtless  follow^  the  suits, 
and  the  executive  officers  of  the  courts  must 
then  proceed  to  evict  from  their  houses  and 
homes  thousands  of  farmers  in  the  most 
populous  provinces  of  the  islands,  and  chiefly 
among  the  Tagalogs,  a  tribe  easily  aroused 
to  disturbance  and  insurrection.  After  four 
years  of  the  difficult  w^ork  of  tranquillization 
it  seemed  impossible,  w^ere  these  evictions  to 
be  instituted,  to  avoid  a  return  to  the  dis- 
turbed conditions  that  had  so  injuriously 
affected  the  interests  of  the  islands  betv^een 
1898  and  1902.  Something  must  be  done 
to  avoid  the  manifest  danger  to  the  public 
peace  and  to  vy^ell-ordered  government  v^hich 
w^holesale  evictions  of  the  character  described 
would  involve. 

Second.  It  was  found  that  the  political 
hostility  toward  the  friars  was  so  great  on 
the  part  of  the  people  that  any  eff*ort  to  send 
them  from  Manila,  where  they  were  housed 
in  their  monasteries,  to  the  parishes  where 
they  had  formerly  exercised  priestly  func- 
tions, created  disturbances  that  it  was 
difficult  for  the  civil  government  to  control. 
On  political  grounds,  therefore,  it  seemed 
wise  for  the  Church  on  the  friendly  sug- 
gestion of  the  government,  to  select    other 


26 


ministers  than  the  Spanish  members  of  the 
Orders  which  had  aroused  such  poHtical 
antagonism  among  the  people  in  the  recent 
history  of  the  islands. 

Third.  Under  the  Spanish  regime,  when- 
ever either  a  civil  or  religious  charity  or 
school  was  founded  and  maintained,  the 
immediate  executive  officers  selected  by  the 
government  for  the  purpose  of  supervising 
and  carrying  on  such  institutions  were 
members  of  the  clergy.  There  were  several 
large  foundations,  educational  and  charit- 
able, with  respect  to  which  the  claim  was 
made,  as  soon  as  the  United  States  govern- 
ment assumed  control,  that  they  were  not 
religious  charities  and  so  subject  to  tl;ie 
control  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church ;  but 
that  they  were  really  civil  foundations,  the 
care  and  custody  of  which  necessarily  passed 
with  the  transfer  of  sovereignty  from  the 
Crown  of  Spain  to  the  government  of  the 
United  States.  This  question  has  arisen 
with  respect  to  two  hospitals,  and  the 
College  of  San  Jose.  The  union  of  Church 
and  State  under  the  Spanish  regime  was 
so  close  that  the  decision  whether  a 
particular  foundation  was  civil  or  religious 
involves  a  consideration  of  some  of  the 
nicest  and  most  puzzling  points  of  law. 
Take  the  instance  of  the  College  of  San  Jose. 

A    Spaniard    named    Figueroa,    who  was 


—  27  — 

governor  of  the  Island  of  Mindanao  in 
1600,  died  and  left  a  will  by  which  he  gave 
a  fund  for  the  establishment  and  assistance 
of  a  school  for  the  education  of  young 
Spaniards.  In  this  will,  he  directed  specifi- 
cally that  the  school  should  not  be  subject 
to  ecclesiastical  domination;  but  he  provided 
that  the  pupils  should  have  a  Christian 
education,  and  that  the  rector  of  the  school 
should  be  the  head  of  the  Jesuit  Order  in 
the  Philippines.  In  1767,  as  already  said, 
the  Jesuits  were  expelled  from  the  islands 
by  the  King  of  Spain.  After  the  Jesuits 
left,  the  Archbishop  of  Manila  and  the 
governor -general  took  possession  of  the 
property  of  the  College  of  San  Jose  and 
divided  it  between  them  for  Church  and 
governmental  purposes.  When  this  was 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  King  of 
Spain,  he  severely  criticised  both  officials, 
and  directed  that  the  property— which,  he 
said,  had  not  belonged  to  the  Jesuits,  but 
was  only  under  the  control  of  the  superior 
to  carry  out  Figueroa's  will  —  should  be 
continued  in  the  same  trust.  He  then 
appointed  a  Dominican  to  supervise  the 
administration   of  the  college. 

Though  the  Jesuits  were  allowed  to  return 
to  the  islands  in  1852,  the  superior  of  the 
Order  did  not  resume  control  of  the  college. 
The    foundation     continued     to    be     under 


—   28  — 

Dominican  supervision,  and  is  now  a  part 
of  the  University  of  Santo  Tomas.  The 
funds  are  used,  under  the  doctrine  known  to 
lawyers  as  the  doctrine  of  cy  pres,  to 
maintain  a  school  of  medicine  in  the 
university.  The  Filipino  Medical  Associa- 
tion, as  soon  as  the  American  government 
took  control  of  the  islands,  insisted  that 
this  San  Jose  trust  was  a  civil  foundation, 
and  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  American 
government  to  take  possession  as  the 
trustee,  and  to  '*run"  the  institution  as 
a  medical  college  free  from  ecclesiastical 
control.  Much  local  bitterness  grew  out  of 
the  controversy,  and  the  commission  finally 
concluded  to  pass  a  law  providing  a  special 
case  for  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  islands 
to  decide.  It  is  now  pending,  but  has  not 
been  brought  to  a  hearing,  because  it  was 
hoped,  after  the  visit  to  Rome,  that  it  might 
be  settled  by  compromise. 

Fourth.  Another  class  of  questions  arising 
between  the  government  of  the  United 
States  and  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is 
the  question  of  rent  and  damages  for  the 
occupation  of  churches  and  conventos  by 
the  troops  of  the  United  States  during  the 
insurrection  and  subsequent  thereto.  You 
must  know  that  nine-tenths  of  the  popula- 
tion of-  the  Philippine  Islands  reside  in 
houses  made  of  a  very  light  and  temporary 


—  29  — 

material.  They  live  in  what  are  called 
"shacks"  made  of  bamboo  frames  with 
roofs  and  sides  of  the  nipa-palm.  The 
houses  are  quickly  constructed,  easily  moved 
and  much  subject  to  destruction  by  fire. 
The  only  permanent  buildings  in  the  ordi- 
nary town  in  the  Philippines,  with  the 
exception  of  the  municipal  or  town  building 
and  a  few  houses  of  the  wealthy,  are  the 
church  and  the  rectory,  called  the  convento. 
The  church  is  usually  a  large  building  of 
stone  or  brick,  finely  situated;  and  the 
convento  is  a  great  structure  adjoining 
the  church  and  connected  with  it.  The 
convento  offered  excellent  facilities  as  a 
barracks  for  the  troops.  As  it  happened 
that  during  the  insurrection  many  of  the 
churches  and  conventos  were  abandoned, 
the  troops  moved  into  them — very  much  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  church  authorities, 
because  in  this  way  their  destruction  was 
avoided.  The  insurgents  early  in  the  w^ar 
had  pursued  the  policy  of  destroying  the 
churches,  in  the  belief  that  in  this  wise 
they  would  prevent  the  American  troops 
from  having  places  in  w^hich  to  live. 
The  occupation  of  the  churches  and  con- 
ventos for  military  purposes  continued  for 
two  years,  and  sometimes  longer,  and  often 
for  quite  a  period  after  all  hostilities  had 
ceased.  This  is  the  foundation  for  a  reason- 


~3o  — 

able  claim  against  the  United  States  for 
rent  and  for  damages  caused  by  the  occupa- 
tion. The  difficulty  is  in  settling  the  proper 
amount  due. 

Fifth.  Another  class  of  questions,  and 
one  which  at  present  is  perhaps  the  most 
troublesome,  involves  the  question  of 
title  to  a  number  of  parish  churches  and 
conventos.  In  these  cases,  the  title  is 
claimed  by  the  respective  municipalities  in 
w^hich  the  parish  church  and  conventos 
stand ;  and  the  people  of  some  of  these 
municipalities  claim  the  right  to  turn  the 
church  and  convento  over  to  the  so-called 
Independent  Filipino  Catholic  Church,  a 
schismatic  body  established  by  an  apostate 
Roman  Catholic  priest  named  Aglipay.  I 
shall  speak  more  in  detail  of  this  question 
farther  on. 

I  think  I  have  sufficiently  stated  and 
explained  the  questions  betw^een  the  Church 
and  the  government  to  shov\^  that  they 
were  serious  obstacles  to  the  progress  of 
the  American  government,  if  steps  were  not 
immediately  taken  to  secure  a  settlement 
of  them.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
the  Church  was  as  anxious  to  bring  about 
a  settlement  as  was  the  government.  The 
commission  recommended  the  purchase  of 
the  friars'  lands  as  a  solution  of  the 
difficulties    arising    with    respect    to    them. 


—  31  — 

It  had  been  fairly  well  ascertained  that  if 
the  government  bought  the  lands,  the 
government  as  a  landlord  w^ould  have  less 
difficulty  in  dealing  with  the  tenants  than 
it  would  have  in  enforcing  the  rights  of  the 
friars  as  landlords;  and  that  by  offering  to 
the  tenants  opportunity  to  purchase  the 
lands  on  small  annual  payments  for  ten 
or  twenty  years,  a  transfer  of  the  lands 
to  the  tenants  might  probably  be  effected 
without  much,  if  any,  pecuniary  loss  to 
the  government. 

Through  a  prominent  American  prelate 
of  the  Roman  Catholfc  Church,  it  was 
intimated  by  the  Vatican  to  Mr.  Root,  the 
Secretary  of  War,  that  if  an  agent  of  the 
government  could  be  sent  to  Rome,  the 
settlement  of  all  these  questions  might  be 
greatly  facilitated  by  direct  negotiation 
with  the  head  of  the  Roman  Church.  The 
issue  was  presented  to  the  President  and 
the  Secretary  of  War  whether  they  ought 
to  take  the  responsibility  of  a  direct 
communication  with  the  Vatican  in  the 
settlement  of  these  questions.  Of  course 
the  immediate  objection  to  this  was  the 
possibility  of  severe  condemnation  by  the 
non-Catholics  of  America,  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  a  radical  departure  from  the 
traditions  of  the  government,  and  would  be 
establishing    diplomatic    relations   with    the 


—  32  — 

head  of  the  Roman  Church,  inconsistent 
with  the  separation  of  Church  and  State 
always  maintained  by  our  government. 
There  was  the  natural  fear  that  the  purpose 
of  the  visit  might  thus  be  misconstrued  and 
that  a  sectarian  feeling  would  be  aroused; 
so  that  the  visit,  instead  of  contributing 
to  the  solution  of  the  difficulties  in  the 
Philippines,  might  prove  to  be  a  most  serious 
obstacle.  On  the  other  hand,  the  President 
and  Secretary  of  War  thought  it  possible, 
after  full  and  frank  consultation  with  many 
leading  clergymen  of  various  denominations, 
to  rely  on  the  clear  judgment  and  common- 
sense  and  liberality  of  all  the  American 
people,  v^ho  must  see  the  supreme  difficulties 
and  exceptional  character  of  the  problem 
which  the  government  had  to  meet  in  the 
Philippine  Islands,  and  would  welcome  any 
reasonable  step  toward  its  solution.  It  was 
a  business  proposition.  Was  it  wiser  to  deal 
with  an  agent  of  the  great  corporation  of  the 
Roman  Church  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  or 
with  the  head  of  the  Church  at  Roman  ?  The 
disadvantage  of  dealing  with  an  agent  in  the 
Philippine  Islands  was  that  unless  direct  and 
satisfactory  communication  v^as  established 
with  the  head  of  the  Church,  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Church  in  the  islands  would  be 
likely  to  be  more  or  less  under  the  influence 
of  the  Spanish  friars,   whose  attitude  with 


—  33  — 

respect  to  the  questions  to  be  decided  could 
not  be  expected,  under  the  circumstances,  to 
be  impartial  and  free  from  bias.  It  was 
concluded,  therefore,  to  accept  the  informal 
invitation,  and  to  send  a  representative  to 
the  Vatican  to  deal  directly  with  the  Pope 
and  with  the  Congregation  of  Cardinals,  to 
whom  in  the  ordinary  course  of  business 
he  would  probably  assign  the  matter.  I 
was  then  the  Governor  of  the  Philippine 
Islands,  visiting  this  country  for  the  pur- 
pose of  testifying  before  the  congressional 
committees  on   Philippine  affairs. 

It  was  thought  appropriate  that  I  should 
represent  the  government  of  the  United 
States  in  the  conferences  at  Rome.  Judge 
James  F.  Smith,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  Phihppines  Islands,  a  Roman  CathoHc, 
then  on  leave  in  this  country,  was  assigned 
to  accompany  me.  In  addition.  Bishop 
Thomas  O 'Gorman,  the  Catholic  bishop  of 
Sioux  Falls,  who  had  lived  a  long  time  in 
Rome  and  spoke  French  with  much  fluency, 
and  Colonel  John  Biddle  Porter,  of  the 
Judge  Advocate's  Corps  of  the  Army,  who 
also  spoke  French,  made  up  the  party. 
It  was  properly  thought  that  Bishop 
O'Gorman's  familiarity  with  the  methods 
of  doing  business  in  the  Vatican  would  be 
of  much  assistance  to  me  in  carrying  on 
the  negotiation.    This  proved  to  be  in  every 


—  34  — 

way    true.    Bishop    O'Gorman    preceded    us 

iu  the  visit  to  Rome  by  about  two  weeks, 

and  met  us  at  Naples  when  the  rest  of  us 

landed     from     the     North     German     Lloyd 

steamer     on    our    way    to    Rome,     I    had 

received    a    letter    of    instruction    from    the 

Secretary  of  War,  a  letter  of  introduction 

from    the    Secretary    of    State  to  Cardinal 

Rampolla,  and  a  personal  letter  of  courtesy 

and  greeting   from   President    Roosevelt    to 

his    Holiness     Pope     Leo    XIII.     We     first 

called      upon      Cardinal      Rampolla,      who 

received    us     cordially,    and     indicated    the 

time    when    the   Pope    would    receive  us    in 

audience.     At  the  appointed  hour,  through 

the    magnificent    chambers    of  the  Vatican, 

v^e    v^ere     escorted     into     the    presence    of 

Leo    XIII.     From    the    moment     that    we 

were  presented  to  the  Pope  until  his  death, 

we  were    constantly  being  made    conscious 

of  the   fact   that   he  took  a  real   personal 

interest     in    the    solution    of    the    difficult 

problems  vsrhich  had  to  be  solved  between 

the  Church  and  the  Philippine  government; 

and  that  he  intended,  so  far  as  lay  in  his 

power,  to    bring    about    the    most    friendly 

relation  between    the  United  States    in  the 

Philippines     and     the     church     authorities. 

He  received  us  most  graciously,  directed  us 

to  seats  immediately  in  front  of  him,  listened 

attentively  while  the  address  which  I  ^^(j 


—  35  — 

prepared,  and  which  had  been  translated 
into  French,  was  read  to  him  by  Colonel 
Porter.  He  responded  in  remarks  of  per- 
haps fifteen  minutes  in  length,  showing 
that  he  had  caught  the  points  which  were 
presented  to  him  in  the  address  and  fully 
understood  them.  Our  audience  was  held 
with  him,  without  the  presence  of  any 
adviser,  cardinal,   priest  or  attendant. 

I  had  always  had  great  admiration  for 
Leo  XIII.  because  of  his  statesmanlike 
grasp  of  the  many  portentous  questions 
that  were  presented  to  him  for  discussion 
and  solution;  but  I  had  supposed  that  in 
the  latter  years  of  his  pontificate  he  had 
become  so  feeble  as  to  be  not  much  more 
than  a  lay  figure  in  the  Papal  government, 
and  that,  except  for  a  more  formal  greeting 
and  salutation,  we  should  have  to  trans- 
act our  business  with  the  Curia.  I  w^as 
greatly  surprised,  therefore,  to  find  this 
grand  old  man  of  ninety-two,  though  some- 
what bent  in  years  and  delicate  -  looking, 
still  able  to  walk  about ;  and,  what  was 
more  remarkable,  keen  and  active  in  his 
mind,  easily  following  the  conversation  and 
addresses  made  to  him,  and  responding 
v^ith  a  promptness  and  clearness  of  intel- 
lectual vision  rarely  found  in  men  of  old  age. 
Nothing  could  exceed  the  cordial  gracious- 
ness  and  simple,  kindly  manner  with  which 


-36- 

he  received  us.  After  the  serious  part  of 
the  audience  had  been  concluded,  he  made 
inquiries  after  our  families  and  our  health, 
and  lightened  the  conversation  with  a 
genial  w^it  and  sense  of  humor  that  were 
very  charming.  He  assured  us  of  his 
great  delight  at  our  coming  and  of  his 
determination  to  insure  the  success  of 
our  visit. 

After  our  first  audience  with  the  Pope,  I 
presented  my  letter  of  instruction  to  Car- 
dinal Rampolla,  which  was  referred  by  him 
to  the  proper  Congregation  of  Cardinals, 
'and  the  negotiations  thereafter  were  in 
writing.  The  answer  of  the  Vatican  to  the 
Secretary  of  War's  instructions  contained 
a  general  acquiescence  in  the  desire  of  the 
government  of  the  United  States  to  purchase 
the  friars'  lands,  and  an  announcement  of 
the  Vatican's  intention  to  effect  a  change  in 
the  personnel  of  the  priests  in  the  islands,  by 
a  gradual  substitution  for  the  Spanish  friars 
of  priests  of  other  nationalities,  with  the 
ultimate  purpose  of  fitting  Filipinos  for  the 
clergy;  and  a  proposal  that  all  the  matters^ 
pending  should  be  turned  over  for  settle- 
ment to  a  conference  between  an  Apostolic 
Delegate  to  be  sent  to  the  Philippine  Islands 
and  the  ofiicers  of  the  Insular  government. 

The  correspondence    has    been    published, 
and  I  shall  not  weary  you   with  its  details 


—  37  — 

further  than  to  say  that,  in  the  response 
to  the  first  letter  received  from  Cardinal 
Rampolla,  we  thought  it  proper  to  propose 
a  definite  contract  between  the  government 
of  the  islands  and  the  Vatican  for  the 
purchase  of  the  lands,  at  a  price  to  be 
fixed  by  a  tribunal  of  arbitration,  which 
should  pass  not  only  upon  the  price  of 
the  lands  but  also  upon  the  question  of  the 
trust  foundations  already  referred  to,  and 
which  should  fix  for  the  approval  of  Congress 
the  amount  of  rent  and  damages  due  for*^ 
the  occupation  of  the  churches  and  conventos 
by  the  United  States  troops.  It  was  further 
proposed  that  this  contract  should  have  a 
condition  by  which  the  Vatican  would  agree  " 
to  withdraw  the  friars  in  the  course  of 
three   years. 

To  this  condition  the  Vatican  declined 
to  agree.  It  was  willing  to  make  a 
definite  contract  for  arbitration,  but  it 
declined  to  agree  as  one  of  its  terms  to 
.withdraw  the  friars  from  the  islands:  first, 
because  that  was  a  question  of  religious 
discipline  which,  it  did  not  think,  ought  to 
form  a  term  of  a  commercial  contract; 
secondly,  because  it  did  not  desire,  by  such 
a  stipulation,  to  reflect  upon  the  Spanish 
religious  Orders,  and  thus  give  apparent 
support  to  the  slanders  which  had  been  pub- 
lished against  the  Orders  by  their  enemies; 


-38- 

and,  thirdly,  because  such  agreement  would 
be  offensive  to  Spain.  We,  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States,  under  the  instructions  of 
the  Secretary  War,  did  not  feel  authorized 
to  enter  into  a  contract  of  arbitration  with 
all  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  extent  of 
the  obligation  assumed,  if  it  did  not  include 
as  a  consideration  the  withdrawal  of  the 
Spanish  friars ;  and  accordingly  we  reverted  ^ 
to  the  general  agreement  proposed  in  the 
Vatican's  first  letter,  in  which  the  Church 
indicated  its  approval  of  the  purchase  of 
the  lands,  and  the  settlement  of  the  other 
questions  by  negotiation  v^ith  an  Apostolic 
Delegate  to  be  sent  w^ith  full  powers  to 
Manila. 

We  were  honored  by  a  second  audience 
with  Leo  XIII.  on  our  departure.  We  had 
received  at  his  hands  great  courtesy,  had 
been  invited  to  attend  his  consistory  held 
while  we  were  in  Rome,  and  had  much 
enjoyed  that  interesting  occasion.  He  talked 
to  us  on  the  subject  of  the  Philippines  for 
some  twenty  or  thirty  minutes,  and  assured 
us  again  of  his  intense  interest  in  the  friendly 
solution  of  the  questions  .arising  there,  and 
of  his  determination  that  they  should  all 
be  solved  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  American 
government.  He  intimated  that  while  we 
had  not  possibly  been  as  successful  as  we 
hoped,    we    would    find    that    through    his 


—  39  — 

Apostolic  Delegate,  whom  he  would  send, 
the  whole  matter  would  be  worked  out  to 
our  satisfaction. 

I  count  it  one  of  the  opportunities  of  my 
life  to  have  had  the  honor  of  a  personal 
interview  with  so  great  an  historical  figure.  • 
Fragile  in  body  almost  to  the  point  of 
transparency,  with  beautiful  eyes,  and  a 
continuing  smile  full  of  benignity  and 
charity,  he  seemed  a  being  w^hose  life  could 
be  blown  out  like  a  candle  flame;  and  yet 
there  was  no  apparent  failing  of  intellectual 
vigor  or  keenness,  and  there  ^were  all  the 
charm  of  manner  and  courtesy  of  the 
high-bred  Italian. 

After  the  conclusion  of  the  negotiations 
at  Rome,  I  proceeded  to  the  Philippine 
Islands  to  resume  the  duties  of  Governor. 
Within  four  or  five  months  I  was  followed' 
by  the  Apostolic  Delegate,  Monsignor  Jean 
Baptiste  Guidi,  titular  Archbishop  of 
Stauropoli.  From  that  time  until  I  left 
the  islands  in  December,  1903,  I  was  con- 
stantly in  conference  with  Monsignor  Guidi. 
Nothing  could  have  proven  more  conclu- 
sively the  sincerity  of  the  Pope's  desire 
to  establish  friendly  relations  with  the 
American  government  in  the  Philippines  and 
to  bring  about  a  solution  satisfactory  to 
both  sides,  than  his  selection  of  Monsignor 
Guidi    as    Apostolic    Delegate.     He  was    a 


—  40  — 

man  of  the  widest  pQlitical  and  diplomatic 
experience ;  he  was  a  Roman,  but  had  Hved 
in  Germany  for  fourteen  years;  had  been 
the  Secretary  of  the  Papal  Nuncio  at  Berlin ; 
had  been  himself  the  Papal  Nuncio  in  Brazil 
and  in  Ecuador  and  the  United  States  of 
Colombia,  and  had  visited  America,  where 
a  brother,  Father  Guidi,  had  lived  for 
twenty  years  as  a  Jesuit  priest  among  the 
Indians  in  the  Rocky  Mountains.  He  was  a 
profound  student  of  comparative  philology, 
spoke  a  dozen  languages,"^  was  a  man  of 
affairs,  and  dealt  in  the  largest  and  most 
liberal  way  with  questions  presented  to  him. 
When  we  began  the  negotiations  for  fix- 
ing the  price  of  the  friars'  lands,  the  task 
seemed  a  hopeless  one.  Monsignor  Guidi 
labored  under  the  great  disadvantage  that, 
while  he  w^as  anxious  to  bring  about  a  sale, 
he  could  not  control  the  owners  of  the  lands. 
The  transfer  to  promoting  corporations  had 
apparently  put  the  decision,  as  to  the  price 
in  the  hands  of  promoters, — persons  not  so 
much  interested  in  a  solution  of  the  problem 
as  in  the  mere  question  of  the  amount  of 
money  which  should  be  secured.  For  more 
than  a  year  and  a  half,  the  negotiations 
were  continued;  evidence  w^as  taken  as  to 
the  value  of  the  lands,  and  finally  by  great 
good  fortune  we  were  able  to  reach  an 
agreement,   and    signed    contracts    for    the 


—  41  — 

purchase  and  sale  of  the  lands  the  day 
before  I  set  sail  from  Manila  to  return  to 
Washington — on  the  24th  of  December,  1903. 
The  first  offers  on  the  part  of  the 
owners  aggregated  $12,500,000 :  our  first 
offer  was  $6,000,000.  Their  second  offer 
was  $10,500,000:  we  raised  our  offer 
$1,500,000;  and  this  price  of  ^7,500,000 
was  agreed  to  as  a  basis,  on  condition 
that  there  should  be  left  out  of  the  sale 
one  hacienda  already  sold  to  a  railroad 
company,  compensation  for  which  in  the 
price  would  reduce  it  to  $7,200,000.  A 
deficiency  in  area  has  now  reduced  the  price 
to  about  $7,000,000.  The  evidence  taken 
as  to  their  value  is  printed  as  an  appendix 
to  the  report  of  the  Governor  for  1903. 
The  question  of  the  value  of  agricultural 
lands  like  these  is,  of  course,  a  mere  matter 
of  opinion  which  can  not  be  settled  with 
certainty.  My  own  view  is  that  the  price 
paid  for  the  lands  under  present  conditions 
is  a  good  one  and  certainly  fair  to  the 
vendors;  but  that  if  prosperity  returns  to 
the  islands,  and  if  the  development  follow, 
which  we  have  a  reasonable  ground  for 
supposing  will  follow,  the  government  will 
be  able  to  recoup  itself  by  the  price  at 
which  it  can  sell  the  lands  to  the  tenants, 
and  thus  discharge  the  debt  which  it 
has    now    contracted  in    order  to  pay    the 


—  42  — 

purchase  price  of  the  lands.  The  contract 
of  purchase  provided  for  a  resurvey  of 
the  lands,  or  rather  a  joint  survey,  and 
also  that  a  good  merchantable  title  should 
be  furnished. 

With  three  of  the  four  promoting  com- 
panies we  have  reached  a  satisfactory 
conclusion,  and  the  money  v^ill  be  paid 
within  a  few  days.  With  the  fourth — the 
company  representing  the  Dominican  lands — 
there  has  been  considerable  dispute  over 
the  contract  price  and  the  title.  We  have 
the  money  ready  to  pay  in  a  Nev^  York  bank, 
but  there  is  such  a  deficiency  in  the  area 
that  it  must  be  compensated  for  under  the 
contract  by  an  abatement  of  the  price.  I 
am  glad  to  say  that  the  last  dispatch  I 
had  from  Governor  Wright  indicates  that 
the  Spanish  gentleman  representing  the 
promoting  company,  after  threatening  to 
break  off  negotiation,  has  concluded  to  be 
reasonable  and  that  a  settlement  w^ith  the 
fourth  company  is  near  at  hand. 

There  is,  we  understand,  some  question 
as  to  the  division  of  the  money  between  the 
Religious  Orders  and  the  Church.  The 
Vatican  has  intimated  that  a  very  con- 
siderable part  of  the  money  paid  ought  to  be 
retained  in  the  Philippines  for  the  purpose  of 
maintaining  the  Church;  and  of  course  all 
w^ho  are  interested  in  the  islands  must  be 


—  43  — 

interested  in  having  as  large  a  fund  as 
possible  to  assist  in  the  restoration  of  the 
Church  of  the  majority  to  a  prosperous 
condition.  It  would  seem  that  the  Church 
might  very  well  say  to  the  friars  that  much 
of  the  money  which  they  had  accumulated 
was  earned  through  their  administration 
of  Church  matters  as  parish  priests,  and 
that  that  money  at  least  ought  to  be 
retained  for  general  church  purposes  in  the 
islands.  However,  this  is  a  matter  with 
which  we,  as  representatives  of  the  civil 
government,  have  nothing  to  do,  though 
in  its  solution  we  properly  have  a  general 
interest,  growing  out  of  our  interest  in 
everything  which  concerns  the  welfare  of 
the  people  of  the  islands ;  and  the  prosperity 
of  all  Christian  churches  among  them 
certainly  tends  to    their  betterment. 

Nothing  has  been  done  toward  a  solution 
of  the  trust  questions,  because  there  was 
not  time  for  Archbishop  Guidi  and  me 
to  reach  those  less  pressing  matters.  The 
amount  to  be  paid  by  the .  government  of 
the  United  States  for  the  occupation  of  the 
churches  and  conventos  is  in  the  process  of 
being  ascertained.  Evidence  has  been  taken 
on  both  sides,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that 
with  the  coming  of  the  new  Delegate  a 
proper  sum  can  speedily  be  reached.  This 
leads  me  to  express  my    deep    regret    that 


—  44  — 

Monsignor  Guidi,  the  Apostolic  Delegate, 
died  from  heart  disease  last  June  in  Manila. 
I  regretted  this  both  personally  and  offi- 
cially, because  we  were  very  warm  friends. 
He  had  become  so  familar  with  all  the 
questions,  and  had  approached  them  with 
so  statesmanlike  and  liberal  a  spirit  that 
I  am  convinced  that  v^ith  his  assistance 
all  the  questions  awaiting  solution  would 
have  been  speedily  settled.  I  have  not  the 
pleasure  or  the  honor  of  the  acquaintance 
of  the  nev^  Apostolic  Delegate,  but  I  am 
assured  that  he  is  a  worthy  successor  of 
Monsignor  Guidi.  If  so,  we  may  look  forward 
to  an  early  conclusion  of  all  the  differences 
that    now^    exist. 

I  ought  to  say  that  though  the  Vatican 
declined  as  a  term  of  the  contract  to  with- 
draw the  Spanish  friars  from  the  Phillip- 
pines,  they  have  been  very  largely  reduced 
in  number, — indeed,  in  a  much  shorter  time^' 
than  that  in  which  we  asked  the  Vatican  to 
stipulate  they  should  be.  There  were  over 
1000  friars  in  the  Philippines  in  1898: 
by  the  first  of  January,  1904,  they  had 
been  reduced  to  246 ;  and  83  of  these 
were  Dominicans  who  have  renounced  the 
right  to  go  into  the  parishes  and  have 
devoted  themselves  to  education.  Fifty  of 
the  remainder  are  infirm  and  unable  to  do 
any  work,  or   indeed    to  leave    the    islands 


—  45  — 

on  account  of  the  danger  of  the  change 
of  climate;  so  that  there  are  only  a  few 
more  than  100  available  to  be  sent  back 
to  the  parishes,  and  of  these  many  are 
so  engaged  in  educational  work  as  to 
make  it  impracticable  for  them  to  act  as 
parish  priests.  The  consequence  is  that,  as 
there  are  more  than  900  parishes,  the, 
question  of  the  intervention  of  the  Spanish 
friars  in  the  islands  as  parish  "priests  ceases 
to    be    important. 

When  the  Filipinos  were  advised  that  the 
Roman  Pontiff  would  not  formally  and  by 
contract  agree  to  withdraw^  the  friars  as 
a  condition  of  the  purchase  of  the  lands, 
Aglipay,  a  former  Catholic  priest,  took 
advantage  of  the  disappointment  felt  at 
the  announcement  to  organize  a  schism 
and  to  found  what  he  calls  the  ''Indepen- 
dent Filipino  Catholic  Church." 

Aglipay  had  been  a  priest  rather  favored 
by  the  Spanish  hierarchy.  He  had  been  made 
the  grand  vicar  of  the  diocese  of  Nueva 
Segovia,  of  which  Vigan  is  the  head.  When 
Aguinaldo,  with  his  government,  was  at 
Malolos,  and  afterward  at  Tarlac,  Aglipay 
appeared  and  acted  as  his  chief  religious 
adviser.  He  w^as  called  'to  Manila  by  the 
archbishop,  and,  declining  to  go,  was  excom- 
municated. Subsequently  he  was  given  a 
guerrilla  command  in  Ilocos  Norte,  and  as  a 


-46- 

gnerrilla  leader  acquired  a  rather  unenviable 
reputation  for  insubordination.  His  general- 
issimo, Tinio,  issued  an  order  (which  I  have 
seen)  directing  that  he  be  seized  and  cap- 
tured w^herever  found,  and  turned  over  to 
the  military  authorities  for  punishment  as 
a  bandit.  Hov^ever,  he  surrendered  among 
others,  and  gave  over  his  forces  to  the 
United  States. 

Popular  hatred  of  the  friars  gave  force  to 
his  movement,  and  he  had  the  sympathy  of 
many  v^ealthy  and  educated  Filipinos  v^ho 
declined  to  join  his  church  and  were  not 
v^illing  to  leave  the  Roman  communion,  but 
whose  dislike  for  the  friars  and  their  control 
aroused  their  opposition  to  the  apparent 
course  of  Rome  in  this  matter.  The  adher- 
ents of  Aglipay  came  largely  from  the  poorer 
people  throughout  the  islands.  The  vicious 
and  turbulent  all  joined  the  ranks;  every 
demagogue  and  every  disappointed  poli- 
tician who  saw  the  initial  rapid  increase  in 
the  membership  of  the  new  church,  joined 
it  in  order  to  get  the  benefit  of  its  supposed 
political  strength. 

The  use  of  the  words  ''  independent 
Filipino"  in  the  name  of  the  church  was 
probably  intended  to  secure  popular  support, 
though  it  was  not  an  improper  use  of  the 
v^ords  to  describe  such  a  schism.  In  this 
v^ay  it  has  occurred  that    politicians  have 


—  47  — 

made  Aglipayism  mean  one  thing  in  one 
place  and  another  thing  in  another;  and 
that  while  generally  it  may  be  said  that 
the  church  is  recruited  from  those  who 
would  join  an  insurrection  if  opportunity 
offered,  and  embraces  most  of  those  enrolled 
in  the  Nationalist  party,  whose  platform 
favors  immediate  independence,  there  are 
many  respectable  followers  of  Aglipay,  not 
Nationalists,  who  separated  from  the  Roman 
Church  chiefly  on  the  basis  of  opposition 
to  the  friars.  Aguinaldo  was.  one  of  the 
first  to  enrol  himself  as  a  follower  of  Aglipay, 
*and  published  a  letter  advising  Filipinos 
generally  to  do  so. 

Aglipay  has  installed  himself  as  Obispo 
Maximo  of  the  Independent  Filipino  Catholic 
Church,  and  has  created  fifteen  or  twenty 
bishops.  He  and  his  bishops  have  organ- 
ized churches  in  various  provinces.  Of 
course  the  first  business  of  the  new  church 
authorities  is  to  secure  church  buildings  and 
property,  and  they  turn  with  longing  eyes 
to  the  churches  and  parish  houses  heretofore 
used  by  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  They 
maintain  that  these  churches  are  really 
government  property,  and  that  therefore 
the  people  of  the  islands  may,  if  they  wish, 
properly  take  them  from  the  authorities  of 
the  Roman  Church  and  give  them  to  the 
Independent  Filipino  Catholic  Church.   There 


-48- 

are  churches  and  chapels  which  have  not 
been  occupied  as  such  by  the  Roman  CathoHc 
Church  for  four  or  five  years,  because  of 
the  inadequate  number  of  priests.  In  some 
of  these  church  and  chapel  buildings,  with  the 
consent  of  the  townspeople,  priests  of  the 
Aglipayan  church  have  set  up  their  worship. 
In  other  places,  church  buildings  have 
been  constructed  of  temporary  materials. 
Aglipay  looks  forward  to  the  early 
independence  of  the  islands  because,  as  he 
says,  he  expects  that  under  a  Filipino 
government  all  the  property  now  held  by 
the  Roman  Church  in  the  islands  will  be 
properly  appropriated  to  the  benefit  of  the 
Independent  Filipino  Catholic  Church,  then  to 
become  the  State  Church.  The  possibility  that 
confiscation  of  church  property  might  follow 
the  leaving  of  the  islands  by  the  Americans 
in  the  near  future,  may  be  judged  somewhat 
by  the  action  of  the  Aguinaldo  government 
in  confiscating  the  friar  lands;  though,  of 
course,  the  feeling  against  the  friars  was 
much  stronger  than  Aglipay  could  arouse 
against  the  Roman  Church.  This  govern- 
ment in  giving  up  control  of  the  islands 
could  require  as  a  condition  from  the  new 
government  that  no  such  confiscation  of 
church  lands  should  take  place;  but  it  is 
doubtful  of  hov^  much  avail  a  stipulation  of 
this  character  would  be,  if  courts  organized 


-^49  — 

under  the  new  government  were  to  hold 
that  all  the  property  in  possession  of  the 
Roman  Church  in  the  islands  were  really 
government  property.  But  would  not  the 
majority  of  good  Roman  Catholics  among 
the  people  prevent  such  proceedings  in  case 
of  Philippine  independence  ?  I  do  not  know. 
It  is  possible.  The  difficulty  with  the  Filipino 
people,  however,  has  heretofore  been  that 
when  the  guiding  and  restraining  hand 
of  Spain  or  the  United  States  has  been 
withdrawn,  it  has  been  the  violent  and  the 
extremists  who  have  come  to  the  front 
and  seized  the  helm. 

Let  us  examine  somewhat  more  in 
detail  what  this  question  of  the  title  of 
the  parish  churches  and  convento  is. 

Under  the  Concordat  with  Spain,  Spain, 
by  reason  of  the  control  of  church  matters 
which  was  given  her,  assumed  the  obligation 
to  construct  the  churches  and  conventos  and 
to  pay  the  priests  a  yearly  stipend.  As  we 
have  already  seen,  the  parish  priest,  who 
was  usually  a  friar,  had  absolute  control 
over  the  people  and  parish  w^here  he 
lived.  He  induced  the  people  to  contribute 
material  and  work  to  the  construction  of 
the  church,  to  the  building  of  the  parish 
house  or  convento,  and  the  laying  out 
of  the  cemetery.  He  selected  his  site  in 
the     most    prominent    place    in    the    town. 


—  50  — 

usually  upon  the  public  square.  The  title  in 
the  site  was  either  in  the  municipality  itself 
or  in  the  central  government  of  Spain  as 
the  Crown  land.  The  close  union  of  Church 
and  State  made  it  unnecessary  to  procure 
a  formal  patent  from  the  State  to  the 
Church,  and  so  it  is  that  many  of  the 
churches  stand  upon  what  the  records  show 
to  be  public  property.  Now,  in  towns  in 
which  a  majority  of  the  people  belong  to 
the  Aglipayan  church  (and  there  are  such 
towns),  it  is  quite  natural  that  they  should 
think  that  the  church,  convento  and  cem- 
etery belong  to  the  municipality,  and  so 
should  be  used  as  desired  by  the  majority 
of  the  people  of  the  municipality.  In  some 
instances,  the  native  parish  priest  himself 
has  deserted  the  Roman  communion  and 
has  joined  the  Aglipayan  church.  In  such 
cases  the  priest  has  simply  turned  over  to  the 
municipality  the  possession  of  the  church, 
convento  and  cemetery,  and  received  it  back 
as  a  priest  of  the  Aglipayan  church  at  the 
instance  of  the  people  of  the  municipality. 
Personally,  as  a  lawyer,  I  am  convinced 
that  in  most  cases  the  churches,  conventos 
and  cemeteries  belong,  not  to  the  people 
of  the  municipality  or  to  the  municipality, 
but  to  the  Roman  Catholics  of  the  parish; 
that  they  were  given  to  be  used  by  the 
Roman  Catholics  of  the  parish  for  Roman 


—  51  — 

Catholic  worship,  for  the  residence  of  the 
Roman  CathoHc  priest,  and  for  the  interment 
of  Roman  CathoHcs ;  that  this  was  a  trust 
which  required,  if  completely  executed,  that 
the  title  should  be,  according  to  canon 
law,  in  the  bishop  of  the  diocese ;  and  that, 
therefore,  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is 
entitled  to  possession,  through  its  priests, 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Catholics  of  the  parish. 
This  opinion  of  mine  is  founded  on  an 
official  opinion  given  by  the  Solicitor- 
General,  a  Filipino  lawyer  of  the  highest 
ability,  but  it,  of  course,  can  not  control 
the  decisions  of  the  courts  when  their 
opinion  is  invoked  upon  the  issue;  and 
what  their  opinion  is  can  be  author- 
itatively settled  only  by  suits  brought 
and  decided;  for  this  is  a  question  which, 
because  of  its  importance,  might  very  well 
be  carried  through  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  islands  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States. 

The  Executive  has  been  powerless  to 
prevent  a  change  of  possession  where  that 
change  of  possession  was  peaceable  and 
effected  without  violence  or  disturbance  of 
the  peace.  The  only  recourse  for  the  Roman 
Church  in  such  cases  is  to  the  courts. 
Both  sides  have  avoided  the  courts  on  the 
ground  that  it  would  be  expensive  to  go 
to  them,  and  have  looked  to  the  Executive 


—   52    — 

to  assist  them.  Much  feeling  exists  over 
these  questions  of  property;  and  we  find 
that  good,  conscientious  CathoHcs,  includ- 
ing some  of  the  American  bishops  in  the 
Philippines,  insist  that  it  is  the  business  of 
the  Executive  to  determine  in  advance  the 
question  of  title  or  rightful  possession  and 
to  turn  the  Aglipayans  out.  Such  a  course 
v^ould  involve  the  Executive  in  all  sorts 
of  difficulties,  and  is  contrary  to  our  prin- 
ciples of  judicature,  in  that  it  would  be 
taking  from  the  municipalities,  without  due 
process  of  law  something  of  which  they 
w^ere  in  possesson.  It  is  said  that  because 
municipalities  are  merely  the  arm  of  the 
central  government,  and  because,  as  the 
Executive  ought  to  know,  the  municipalities 
have  no  title  to  the  property,  it  is  his 
business  as  the  executive  and  superior  of 
the  municipalities  to  order  them  out  of 
possession.  But  the  difficulty  here  is  that 
under  the  Treaty  of  Paris  the  property  of 
the  municipality,  as  well  as  the  property  of 
the  religious  Orders,  is  declared  to  be 
inviolate  by  the  central  government;  and 
it  would,  therefore,  savor  of  most  arbitrary 
action  were  the  governor  to  declare  the 
title  in  advance  and  direct  the  municipality 
to  give  up  possession.  In  other  words,  the 
municipality  in  such  action  is  to  be  treated 
as   a  quasi  -  citizen  and  as  having  property 


—  53  — 

rights  over  which  the  central  government 
has  no  arbitrary  control.  The  Philippine 
government  is  now  engaged  in  preparing 
for  the  establishment  of  a  special  tribunal 
which  shall  go  through  the  provinces  and 
consider  all  the  questions  arising  from  the 
churches  and  conventos  and  cemeteries, 
decide  the  same,  and  place  the  judgments 
in  the  hands  of  the  Executive  and  have 
them  executed.  In  this  way  a  burning 
question,  and  one  which  is  likely  to  involve 
a  great  deal  of  bitterness  and  perhaps 
disturb  the  public  peace,  can  be  disposed 
of  with  least  friction,  with  least  expense, 
with  greatest  speed,  and  with  a  due  regard 
to  everybody's  rights. 

Archbishop  Guidi  adopted  the  policy, 
w^hich  I  can  not  but  think  is  the  wrise  one, 
of  accepting  the  resignation  of  the  Spanish 
archbishop  and  bishops  who  had  formed 
the  hierarchy  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  and 
all  of  whom  were  friars;  and  appointing  in 
their  places  one  Filipino  bishop,  an  American 
archbishop  of  Manila  and  three  American 
bishops.  I  speak  with  considerable  knowl- 
edge when  I  say  that  the  work  which 
these  prelates  will  have  to  perform  in  order 
that  they  may  be  successful  will  require  an 
immense  amount  of  patience,  charity,  self- 
sacrifice,  self-restraint  and  hard  work;  but 
ultimately  the  reward  for  their  labors  will 


—  54  — 

come,  and  when  it  comes  will  be  amply 
worth  all  the  effort.  I  sincerely  hope  that 
the  coming  of  the  Catholic  bishops  means  the 
gradual  increase  of  the  number  of  American 
priests  who  may  be  induced  to  take  parishes 
in  the  islands,  and  to  instruct  the  native 
clergy,  both  by  precept  and  example,  in  what 
constitues  a  model  priest  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  The  elevation  of  the  priest- 
hood in  those  islands  means  much  for  the 
elevation  of  the  people.  The  American  priests 
are  used  to  free  government,  to  a  separation 
of  Church  and  State,  and  to  a  church 
independent  of  political  control  and  political 
manipulation. 

I  am  not  a  Catholic,  and  as  a  member  of 
the  government  I  have  no  right  to  favor  one 
sect  or  denomination  more  than  another; 
but  I  have  a  deep  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
the  Philippine  Islands,  as  anyone  charged 
with  the  civil  government  of  them  must 
have.  And  when  I  know  that  a  majority  of 
the  people  there  are  sincere  Roman  Catholics, 
anything  which  tends  to  elevate  them  in 
their  church  relation  is,  I  must  think,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  government  and  the  welfare 
of  the  people  at  large. 

There  are  Protestant  missionaries  in  the 
islands.  They  have  done  excellent  work. 
They  have  conducted  themselves  with  the 
utmost  propriety  and  tact;   and  there  has 


—  55  — 

been  very  little,  if  any,  conflict  between 
them  and  the  Roman  Catholics.  If  anyone  is 
interested  in  the  local  differences  growing  out 
of  the  presence  in  the  islands  of  the  Roman 
Catholics,  the  Aglipayans  and  the  Protest- 
ants, which  have  been  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  Executive  of  the  islands  for 
action,  he  can  find  a  full  account  of  them 
as  an  appendix  to  the  report  of  the  civil 
governor  of  the  islands  for  1903.  There 
is  work  enough  in  the  Philippines  for  all 
denominations.  The  schools  and  charities 
v^hich  all  denominations  are  projecting  will 
accomplish  much  for  the  benefit  of  those 
aided ;  and  the  Christian  competition — if  I 
may  properly  use  such  a  term — among  the 
denominations  in  doing  good  w^ill  furnish  the 
strongest  motive  for  the  maintenance  of  a 
high  standard  of  life,  character  and  works 
among  all  the  clergy,  and  so  promote  the 
general    welfare. 

One  subject  I  must  touch  upon  before  I 
close,  and  that  is  the  public  schools  and  the 
teaching  of  religion.  Under  the  limitations 
of  the  constitution  and  the  instructions  of 
President  McKinley  requiring  us  to  keep 
Church  and  State  separate,  v^e  could  not 
expend  the  public  money  for  the  teaching  of 
religion ;  but  we  provided  in  the  school  law 
that  at  the  instance  of  the  parents  of  the, 
children,  for  a  certain  time  each  week,  the 


-56- 

schoolhouse  could  be  occupied  for  the 
teaching  of  rehgion  by  the  minister  of  any 
church  estabHshed  in  the  town,  or  by  anyone 
designated  by  him.  I  am  glad  to  say  that 
this  provision  is  working  satisfactorily.  In 
many  towns,  by  arrangement,  the  public 
schools  have  their  sessions  in  the  morning 
and  the  catechism  schools  are  held  in  the 
churches  in  the  afternoon. 

The  Roman  Catholics  of  this  country  and 
the  Philippines  have,  not  unnaturally,  felt 
sensitive  over  the  fact  that  a  considerable 
majority  of  the  American  schoolteachers 
were  Protestants.  This  arose  from  the 
simple  fact  that  the  number  of  Protestant 
teachers  disengaged  and  able  to  go  to  the 
Philippines  was  very  much  greater  than 
Catholic  teachers  so  situated.  However,  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  all  Filipino 
teachers — three  thousand  in  number,  and 
more  than  three  times  as  many  as  the 
American  teachers— are  Catholics.  Naturally, 
the  Filipino  teachers  come  much  nearer  to 
the  children  of  the  primary  school  than  do 
the  American  teachers.  Again,  we  have 
imposed  the  severest  penalty  upon  any 
teacher  found  trying  to  proselyte  or  to  teach 
children  ideas  in  favor  of  one  religion  or 
against  another.  The  Secretary  of  Public  In- 
struction and  the  Superintendent  of  Schools 
in  Manila    are    both'  Roman    Catholics,   so 


—  57  — 

that  it  is  unlikely  that  any  discrimination 
against  their  religion  will  be  permitted  in 
the  school  system.  The  American  teachers 
in  the  Philippines  are  of  necessity  temporary. 
The  ultimate  object  of  the  public  school 
system  is  to  secure  ten  or  fifteen  thousand 
Filipino  teachers  who  will  be  able  to  teach 
all  branches  in  English.  They  certainly  are 
not  likely  to  be  prejudiced  against  the 
Catholic  Church. 

Of  course,  it  is  the  duty  of  this  government, 
and  all  acting  under  it,  to  treat  every 
denomination  with  strict  impartiality,  and 
to  secure  the  utmost  freedom  of  religious 
worship  for  all. 

It  is  natural  that  a  good  Catholic  without 
government  responsibility  should  hold  Agli- 
pay  and  his  followers  in  abhorrence  as 
apostates  from  the  true  Church  as  he  believes 
it;  and  should  view  with  little  patience 
governmental  recognition  of  them  as  a  new- 
church  entitled  to  as  much  protection,  when 
they  do  not  violate  the  law  or  the  rights 
of  others,  as  either  the  Roman  Catholic 
or  the  Protestant  denomination.  But 
neither  the  civil  government  under  American 
principles  of  freedom  of  religion,  nor  any 
officer  thereof,  whatever  may  be  his  religious' 
predilections,  can  examine  into  the  creed  or 
history  of  a  church,  or  determine  its  virtues 
or  shortcomings,   but  must  secure  its  mem- 


-58- 

bers  in  their  right  to  worship  God  as  they 
choose,  so  long  as  they  keep  within  the  laws 
and  violate  no  one's  rights.  Of  course  where 
the  government  owes  money  or  is  under  any 
other  legal  obligation  to  a  church,  it  may 
properly  facilitate  the  negotiation  of  a  settle- 
ment and  the  payment  of  the  money  or  the 
performance  of  its  obligation  from  the  proper 
motive  not  only  of  doing  justice  but  also  of 
generally  aiding  those  institutions  which 
make  for  the  moral  and  religious  elevation  of 
the  people.  On  this  ground,  and  because  of 
the  danger  of  the  disturbance  of  the  peace 
from  such  controversy,  it  may  properly 
provide  special  judicial  tribunals  for  suits 
betw^een  churches  over  property.  It  is  a 
mistake  to  suppose  that  the  American 
government  is  Opposed  to  the  success  and 
prosperity  of  churches.  It  favors  their 
progress;  it  exempts  them  from  taxation; 
it  protects  their  worship  from  disturbance; 
it  passes  laws  for  their  legal  incorporation. 
But  it  can  not  discriminate  in  favor  of  one 
or  against  another.  It  must  treat  all  alike. 
It  is  exceedingly  difficult,  however,  in  the 
heat  of  religious  controversy  betwreen  sects 
to  convince  both  sides  that  the  course 
of  the  government  is  free  from  favor  to 
either  party.  We  have  not  escaped  criti- 
cism, first  from  one  side  and  then  the  other 
in    the    Philippines;    but    a   perusal    of  the 


—  59  — 

record  of  each  controversy,  contained  in  the 
Governor's  report  for  1903,  already  referred 
to,  will  show  that  the  government  has 
attempted  to  pursue  the  middle  line,  and 
has  fairly  well  succeeded. 

In  closing  this  long  and  somewhat 
desultory  discussion,  I  can  not  refrain  from 
expressing  my  gratification  that,  on  the 
v^hole,  the  Administration  in  this  country 
has  found  the  utmost  liberality  of  view 
among  American  Catholics  and  Protestants 
alike  in  the  manner  in  which  its  efforts  to 
solve  these  delicate  religious  questions  have 
been  received  and  commented  on.  While 
there  has  been  some  bitter  condemnation  of 
the  course  taken  it  seemed  to  come  only 
from  extremists  on  one  side  or  the  other,  and 
v^as  not  shared  in,  I  think,  by  the  great 
body  of  Catholics  and  Protestants.  It  speaks 
volumes  for  the  religious  tolerance  of  the 
present  day  that  the  motives  of  the  Admin- 
istration in  sending  an  agent  to  Rome  for 
negotiation  were  not  generally  misconstrued, 
and  that  the  result  of  that  negotiation 
has  met  with  the  general  and  intelligent 
approval  of  all  denominations.  I  do  not 
think  that  such  a  result  would  have  been 
possible  in  this  nation  thirty  years  ago,  or 
that  a  similar  tolerance  and  liberality  could 
be  found  to  exist  between  different  religious 
denominations  of  any  other  country. 


OTHER  PAMPHLETS. 


Some  Duties  and  Responsibilities  of  American  Cath- 
olics.    By  the  Hon.  Charles  J.  Bonaparte.    32  pp. 

10  cts. 

Progress  in    Education.     By    the    Rt.    Rev.  J.    h. 

Spalding,  D.  D.     65  pp.     10  cts. 
The  Victory   of    Love.      By  the   Rt.    Rev.    J.    I^. 

Spalding,  D.  D.     63  pp.     10  cts. 

Are  Protestants   Catholics?    By  the   Very   Rev.  R. 
O'Kennedy.     24  pp.     10  cts. 

Education  and  the  Future  of  Religion.     By  the  Rt. 

Rev.  J.  L.  Spalding,  D.  D.     48  pp.     10  cts. 
The  Proof  of  Miracles.     By   Henry    F.  Brownson, 

hh.  D.     16  pp.      10  cts. 
Religious  Education  and  Its  Failures.     By  the  Right 

Rev.  James  Bellord,  D.  D.     80  pp.     15  cts. 
Unbelief  a  Sin.     By  the   Rev.  Edmund  Hill,  C.  P. 

16  pp.     10  cts. 
A  City  of  Confusioru     By  the  Revr^ienr^y^^  G^nss^ 

63  PP-     X5^ts.  ^^ 

The  Catholic  Church  and  Modern  Science.    By  the 
/A^ery  Rev.  Dr.  J.  A.  Zahni,  C.  S.  C.      10  cts. 
Views  of  Education.     By  the  Rt.  Rev.  J.  L.  Spald- 
ing, D.  D.     31  pp.     10  cts. 
The  Dignity  of  Labor.     By  the   Rt.  Rev.  Monsig. 

Seton,  D.  D.     14  pp.     10  cts. 
What  the  Church  has  Done  for  Science.     By  the  Very 

Rev.  Dr.  J.  A.  Zahm,  C.  S.  C.     10  cts. 
Growth  and  Duty.     By  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Spald- 
ing.    20  pp.     10  cts. 
Ideals  of  Youth.     By  the  Rt.  Rev.  J    L.  Spalding, 

D.  D.     16  pp.     10  cts. 
St.  Thomas  and  Our  Day.    By  the  Rt.  Rev.  Francis 

Silas  Chatard,  D.  D.     15  pp.     10  cts. 
Behold  Thy  Mother ;  or,  Motives  of  Devotion  to  the 

Blessed  Virgin.    By  the  Rev.  P.  Roh,  S.  J.    26  pp. 

10  cts. 


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